Mr Prince was introduced to performance recording when building his Suffolk flock. In 2007 he bought four recorded in-lamb Texel ewes which were due to lamb in mid-March.
His main Texel flock lamb a month earlier, but the lambs from the new ewes easily caught up with lambs from the main flock. “We soon noticed the difference in growth rates and overall quality when faced with recorded versus non-recorded lambs,” says Mr Prince.
Since then semen from rams in the top 1% of the breed index has been used serve the flock and Mr Prince has bolstered his pedigree Texel numbers by purchasing a further nine high index ewes. These have had a very positive influence on flock performance, and may have contributed to winning the EBLEX Progressive Flock Award.
“We are now selling more animals privately and achieving better financial returns because they have performance figures behind them,” admits Mr Prince. “The investment in recording is paying off. Last year we sold all the stock we had for sale by November.”
Satisfied customersMixed livestock farmer Steven Hinchley from Ashover has purchased rams from Mr.Prince for three years, and admires the way he uses the latest breeding techniques and genetics.
“I am looking for quick turnaround with my lambs so that they can generate a decent profit,” Mr Hinchley explains. “By using recorded rams I can achieve fast growth rates and good eye muscle depth. “I have had some cracking lambs from Matthew’s tups; they have grown quickly, been well muscled, and have provided the type of carcase the butcher is looking for.”
After successfully using performance recorded bulls on his suckler cows, another local producer, David Nightingale decided to buy a performance recorded ram from Mr Prince to use on his 50-head commercial ewe flock.
“As I was selling some of my lambs through the Prince’s farm shop they could see what type of carcase I was producing,” says Mr Nightingale. “They recommended a ram that would improve the end-product and I used him across all 50 ewes. The first set of lambs he sired were tremendous.”